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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Top 10 Obama anti-business, anti-job actions

President Obama loves to complain that he inherited an economic mess. That may be true, but his wrong-headed policies have only made matters worse, taking actions that hurt businesses and stunt job growth.1. Obamacare costsObamacare will impose a new cost on many small businesses that currently do not provide health insurance for their employees and will pressure many to shift workers to part-time status to get below the measure’s “50-worker” loophole. It also means all companies will have to re-evaluate their health care coverage and make changes to come into compliance with federal guidelines or pay fines of up to $3,000 per worker. The Congressional Budget Office says the bill will lead to 800,000 fewer jobs by 2020.2. Small business tax hikesThe expiration of the Bush tax cuts for individuals making over $200,000, or families making $250,000, will hit many small business owners, an increase that will hit as those same owners are still trying to dig out of the recession. Considering that small businesses are the main creator of jobs in the nation, every dollar taken from them in tax hikes is that many fewer dollars available for expanding employment.3. EPA’s burdensome regulationsRegulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency put a tremendous burden on businesses, making job creation more difficult. The agency’s rules on air quality standards are curtailing energy produced from coal-fired electrical plants, causing a rise in electricity prices and making scarce a major resource that is abundant in America.4. Keystone XL Pipeline postponedEven Obama’s union supporters expressed outrage over his decision to indefinitely postpone construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would transport oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf of Mexico. The president’s decision cost thousands of jobs and lost a possible source of energy from North America, as China was soon knocking on Canada’s door. But at least Obama’s Hollywood environmental backers were placated.5. Boeing battleWhen Boeing wanted to build a new $750 million assembly plant in South Carolina, creating thousand of jobs in the process, the National Labor Relations board stepped in, saying the move violated federal law because S.C. is a right-to-work state. The board, whose balance tipped toward labor with Obama appointees, finally dropped the case after the union representing Boeing workers withdrew its objections.Read the full story